Teslas Promote “White Hegemonic Masculinity,” Study Claims
Two European researchers recently published a study in which they make a litany of bizarre claims, such as that Teslas and Tesla drivers promote “heterosexual hegemony” as well as “white hegemonic masculinity.”
Matteo Vivi and Anne Mette-Hermans authored the study “Zero Emission, Zero Consequences” in Sage Journal’s Men and Masculinities, a journal whose mission is to publish masculinity research grounded in intersectional feminism and queer theory.
With a market cap of $1.122 trillion, Tesla is the 8th largest company in the United States. The company has come under the national spotlight, sparked by Elon Musk publicly supporting Donald Trump’s campaign and even spending Thanksgiving with the president-elect.
The researchers claim that Tesla has enabled new types of masculinity. However, since they view masculinity negatively, they appear hopeful for change.
“Electronic vehicles validate energy-soaked lifestyles in an age of climate change, enabling ‘green’ enactments of fast, aggressive, and reckless styles of driving performed by ecomodern masculinities,” they argue.
“Tesla envisions masculine driver-identities in light of the historical articulation of automobility as a predominantly white and class-privileged sphere of male influence, power, and agency.”
While they suggest EV driver’s masculinity is bad, they also talk negatively about regular men who drive the American standard gas-guzzlers of a car. With a nod to the spark of the engine, the researchers argue that men are also suffering from “combustion masculinity” and “petro-masculinity.”
They suggest masculinity could be turned around if men embrace feminism. Nowhere does it mention anything negative about female drivers, female Tesla owners, or women themselves, likely reflecting a bias toward pathologizing only masculinity and men.
“Environmentalism can lend fertile ground for the (re)construction of a politics of masculinity away from toxic, violent, and harmful configurations of patriarchal power,” they argue.
They conclude by hoping that EV adoption by men may lead to them exploring feminism or perhaps act in a way that is less traditionally masculine.
“In this sense, EV adoption can invite white male drivers to a process of contestation and possibly separation from hegemony, launching a feminist reconstruction of masculine driver-identities centered around care.”
Liberty Affair contacted the study’s authors, Matteo Vivi and Anne Mette-Hermans, but did not respond to inquiries.
Toni Airaksinen (@Toni_Airaksinen on X) is a journalist living in Delray Beach, Florida. If you want to stay on top of news regarding college antisemitism, follow her on Substack, Twitter or Instagram.
